The governor’s proposal to cap property tax increases should allow school districts waivers for high and unpredictable costs for special education, the New Jersey School Boards Association said Thursday.
The group noted that when a child with extreme disabilities enrolls, a district has little control over the bills but has a legal duty to provide services that can cost more than $100,000 for residential placement.
“A reasonable cap would take into account expenditures that are clearly outside a local school district’s control,” said Marie Bilik, the association president.
The Legislature began a special session Thursday to debate Governor Christie’s proposed cap barring towns and school districts from raising taxes more than 2.5 percent in any year. Christie wants a cap with limited exceptions, such as debt service and certain capital costs, and he says voters should have the say in allowing any cap overrides.
Critics charge that a hard cap is too harsh. Now, the state’s 4-percent cap on tax

Education Department issues scathing report on Albany High

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The State Education Department has released a scathing report on Albany High School.

The department accused the school of failing to help struggling students, as well as students with disabilities, making little effort to engage them or track their performances.

The report was created after an intensive 2 - 3 day on-site review of teaching and learning at Albany High. This is required due to the school's status of persistently being the lowest-achieving school in the city.

The report reveals low expectations of students are evident in most observed classrooms. It is noted that attendance is a chronic problem with some students missing half or more of their classes, especially for freshman and sophomores.

This information flies in the face of a recent Newsweek ranking that put Albany High in the top s

In Blow to Bloomberg, City Must Keep 19 Failing Schools Open

Published: July 1, 2010

A state appellate court ruled unanimously on Thursday that New York City must keep open 19 schools it wanted to close for poor performance, blocking one of the Bloomberg administration’s signature efforts to improve the educational system.

The ruling, by the Appellate Division, First Department, in Manhattan, upheld a lower court finding that the city’s Education Department did not comply with the 2009 state law on mayoral control of the city schools because it failed to adequately notify the public about the ramifications of the closings.

Because many eighth graders assumed the schools would be closed and the Education Department discouraged them for attending the schools, few applied. Some of the schools could begin September with just a few dozen freshmen. School officials said they expected enrollment to grow with students who move into the city, but the number will still likely be far smaller than in past years.

Since taking office in 2002, the mayor has closed 91 schools that regularly posted low test scores or graduation rates and has replaced them with smaller schools, on the premise that the more intimate environments served struggling students better. Studies have

The city has no plans to fight an appellate court ruling that will keep open 19 schools marked for closure, Chancellor Joel Klein said today. But it does plan to open new schools in the same buildings.
That’s despite the fact that the same closure proposals that judges deemed inadequate were also used to justify opening 17 new schools in those buildings.
Whenever the city wants to shut down a school or make several schools share the same building space, state law requires city officials to prepare “educational impact statements” (or EIS’s) that examine how the changes will affect students and the surrounding community. The EIS’s that the citywide school board approved in January included, in the same documents, both the plans to close the 19 schools and replace many of them starting next year.
Today, five appellate court judges unanimously ordered the city to reissue those EIS’s with more detail than what

Pertussis can be a major, even life threatening, infection for infants who have not yet received their routine vaccinations and for certain other groups. Public health experts believe that infants get pertussis from adolescents and adults around them who have pertussis but who may not be severely ill themselves. Adolescents and adults get pertussis because the immunity they had as a result of their childhood vaccinations gradually lessens with time.

A typical case of pertussis starts with a cough and runny nose for one-to-two weeks, followed by up to several weeks, or longer, of ongoing coughing fits. While some persons produce the characteristic “whooping” sound during these coughing fits, many others do not. Fever is not a prominent symptom, but may be low grade in nature.

Pertussis is spread by close contact with an infected person who is coughing or sneezing. If you have been in close contact with someone who has pertussis, you should consult your health care provider, especially if you are likely to be in close contact with infants or others who could become severely ill if they acquired the disease. Your health care provider can advise whether you should receive a course of antibiotics (to lessen the likelihood you acquire the infection). Even more importantly, your health care provider can advise whether you should receive a booster vaccination against pertussis, which is now available for most adults and adolescents and which is strongly recommended by public health authorities.

For more information on pertussis, please see the following publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Pertussis (Whooping Cough) – What You Need To Know

Pertussis (whooping cough) is very contagious and can cause serious illness―especially in infants who are too young to be fully vaccinated. Make sure your infants and young children get their recommended five shots on time. Adolescent and adult vaccination is also important, especially for families with new infants.

Pertussis (whooping cough) is a very contagious disease caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis. Among vaccine-preventable diseases, pertussis is one of the most commonly occurring ones in the United States.

There is high vaccine coverage for children nationwide. However, protection from the childhood vaccine fades over time. Adolescents and adults need to be revaccinated, even if they were completely vaccinated as children.

Also, pertussis vaccines are very effective but not 100% effective. If pertussis is circulating in the community, there is still a chance that a fully vaccinated person can catch this very contagious disease. When you or your child develops a cold that includes a prolonged or severe cough, it may be pertussis. The best way to know is to contact your doctor.

Would You Know Pertussis?

Pertussis Symptoms

Pertussis can cause serious illness in infants, children and adults. The disease starts like the common cold, with runny nose or congestion, sneezing, and maybe mild cough or fever. But after 1–2 weeks, severe coughing begins. Infants and children with the disease cough violently and rapidly, over and over, until the air is gone from their lungs and they're forced to inhale with a loud "whooping" sound. Pertussis is most severe for babies; more than half of infants less than 1 year of age who get the disease must be hospitalized. About 1 in 20 infants with pertussis get pneumonia (lung infection), and about 1 in 100 will have convulsions. In rare cases, pertussis can be deadly, especially in infants.

How Pertussis Spreads

People with pertussis usually spread the disease by coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who then breathe in the pertussis bacteria. Many infants who get pertussis are infected by parents, older siblings, or other caregivers who might not even know they have the disease.

Pertussis in the United States

Since the 1980s, there's been an increase in the number of cases of pertussis, especially among teens (10–19 years of age) and babies less than 6 months of age. In 2008 there were more than 13,000 reported cases including 18 deaths from pertussis nationally.

Preventing Pertussis

The best way to prevent pertussis is to get vaccinated. In the US, the recommended pertussis vaccine for children is called DTaP. This is a safe and effective combination vaccine that protects children against three diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. For maximum protection against pertussis, children need five DTaP shots. The first three shots are given at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. The fourth shot is given between 15 and 18 months of age, and a fifth shot is given when a child enters school, at 4–6 years of age. Parents can also help protect infants by keeping them away as much as possible from anyone who has cold symptoms or is coughing.

Vaccine protection for pertussis, tetanus, and diphtheria can fade with time. Before 2005, the only booster vaccine available contained tetanus and diphtheria (called Td), and was recommended for adolescents and adults every 10 years. Today there are boosters for adolescents and adults that contain tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (called Tdap). Pre-teens going to the doctor for their regular check-up at age 11 or 12 years should get a dose of Tdap. Adults who didn't get Tdap as a pre-teen or teen should get one dose of Tdap instead of the Td booster. Most pregnant women who were not previously vaccinated with Tdap should get one dose of Tdap postpartum before leaving the hospital or birthing center. Getting vaccinated with Tdap is especially important for families with and caregivers of new infants.

The easiest thing for adults to do is to get Tdap instead of their next regular tetanus booster—that Td shot that they were supposed to get every 10 years. The dose of Tdap can be given earlier than the 10-year mark, so it's a good idea for adults to talk to a healthcare provider about what's best for their specific situation.

NEA RA gonna be long and angry this year…

In just a few days the NEA RA will begin; delegates from all over the country are arriving in rain-soaked New Orleans to begin the process of unpacking and excercising their parlimentary procedural muscles.

I’ve been here a few days already at one of the many preconferences. I have to say, this is going to to one angry RA. Perhaps the angriest I’ve ever been too. I think this is my fifth RA, they tend to blur together into one big long parlimentary procedural motion.

Perceieved federal impotence and dysfunction

I think the delegates will target the federal funding we’ve recieved over the last year. Specifically RttT and SIG grants. And they’re not happy with Obama, but Duncan’s name keeps coming up and up again. Not in a pleasant way. We’re dealing with a membership loss, the first since the early 1980s, and are going to collectively have to deal with the loss of revenue. Not to mention all the bone-headed NBIs that will come to the floor this year that will ask NEA to do all kinds of things and cost all kinds of money we don’t have.

What frustrates me the most is that the delegates are so upset at Duncan and the competetive grant process. I personally am not against competetive grants, quite frankly, many school districts go for them all the time, both from governmental and NGO sources. I know that NEA supports formula-based aid. I think that should be the basis for overall funding, but if districts and their teacher unions want to apply for competetive grants, I don’t think there’s much harm in that, as long as it is done in a collaborative way, with both groups at the table.

I really don’t think that the delegates understand (or want to understand) the political sensitivities of the Obama administration right now. No, let’s just admit that they weren’t able to wave their magic wand and fix education (though they did do something with healthcare) or the economy. Teachers are getting laid off left and right. The jobs bill is in drydock, whittled down from $23 to $10 billion dollars.

What I have heard again and again from delegates is that “Obama (and/or) Duncan just aren’t listening to us (NEA).” That’s not true. They are listening to us, and President Van Roekel or other staffers or NEA officers are meeting on a weekly (sometimes more) basis with members of the Obama administration. I have full faith that those NEA folks are doing everything they can t
o

On June 23, 2010, the Office of Portfolio Planning (OPP) from the NYC Department of Education attended a Community Education Council meeting in District 1 on the Lower East Side. This was in response to an invitation from our CEC to hold an initial needs assessment, before deciding how space should be used in our neighborhood’s schools.

When a CEC member asked, “What happens if there is a conflict between what the community wants and what the Chancellor wants for our district?” Elizabeth Rose, the OPP representative, responded, “We all serve the Chancellor, the buildings belong to him.” You could see the entire room full of parents bristle.

As a parent from a local elementary school who went to the hearing in a furious panic because word had gotten

In the wake of President Barack Obama's veto threat, Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wis., the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, defended his proposal to cut $800 million from the administration's education priorities to help pay for education jobs.
A fact sheet released by Obey's office says all of the money would come from new grants, so no one currently receiving funding would lose it. And it says there is no reason the programs couldn't see those funding levels restored in better economic times.
Then it takes each of the programs separately:
*Charters: The charter funding comes entirely from grants for new schools in an effort to defer "some funding for

A jury could begin deliberations this afternoon or tomorrow in the Mehserle murder trial, and there’s been much talk (some have called it hype) about what the reaction in Oakland will be, especially if the former BART police officer is acquitted. Youth UpRising is doing its part to keep the peace producing the above video and organizing an event at 5 p.m. on the day of the verdict, whenever that is. (Flier below.)

Parent Engagement InterviewThe national teacher organization “Teachers Count” has just published an interview with me that focuses on parent engagement issues. Readers might find it useful/interesting.

“Connecting Latino parents with Lake Tahoe school communities”A local paper in the Tahoe (Nevada/California) area recently published an article titled Connecting Latino parents with Lake Tahoe school communities. It’s another example of how a small effort by a school can pay dividends. Thanks to Colorin ...

“We need a real relationship with our schools, not one where a few people get together every now and then’’At school focus groups, parents voice concerns, call for more input is the title of an article in today’s Boston Globe. It describes a series of fourteen parent focus groups organized by the school district to “solicit input about school closings, ...

Intercultural Charter SchoolCONVICTED FELON EMPLOYED AT ORLEANS SCHOOL, May, 14, 2010. FOX8TV New Orleans - As parents pulled up to pick up their kids, many were shocked to hear the focus of our questions. "I am very surprised. I wasn't even aware of that", says parent ...

AllPrep Web Academy networkALLPREP CHARTER SCHOOL NETWORK LEAVES HUNDREDS IN LURCH, May 10, 2010, The Oregonian SISTERS --Suzanne Moore spent almost two years teaching at Sisters AllPrep Web Academy, but what she described as the "best job in the whole world" became a ...

Emma L. Harrison Charter SchoolSTATE BOARD REVOKES LICENSE OF WACO CHARTER SCHOOL, July 10, 1999, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) AUSTIN The State Board of Education on Friday revoked the charter of a financially troubled charter school in Waco and tentatively approved new rules ...

by Benjamin Herold

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For Alicia Ogburn, the parent of a kindergartener and third grader in the struggling Haddington neighborhood of West Philadelphia, the chance to have a voice in determining the future direction of her children’s school was an unprecedented experience.

“I loved it,” said Ogburn of her involvement on theSchool Advisory Council (SAC) at Daroff Elementary, one of eight schools designated for turnaround under Superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s Renaissance Schoolsinitiative. “I’ve done a lot of volunteering, but I’ve never been this close with this kind of situation.”

Joy Herbert, however, had a very different experience. Like Ogburn, Herbert joined a SAC, devoted months to the process, and ultimately cast her vote for an outside provider to turn around her child’s school, West Philadelphia High.

Unlike Ogburn, Herbert’s involvement left her frustrated and demoralized. Her council’s recommendation was disregarded, and she is one of four parents who found themselves the subject of a District “investigation” into an alleged conflict of interest.